IC-NRLF 


SB    E73 


E  PROTEGE, 


MAIN 


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A   POEM, 


BY   WILLIAM   B BUSMAN, 


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SACRAMENTO  : 

PUBLISHED    15 Y  JOHN,,).  MURPHY,  BOOKSELLER, 
Corner  of  J  and  Fourth  Streets. 


LIBRARY   OF   THE 

University  of  California. 

C1RCULA  TING    BRA N C H . 


Return  intrc^week^;  or  a  week  before  the  end 


oT4sl  tenn,    >/ 


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THE  PROTEGE, 


A   POEM, 


BY  WILLIAM  BAUSMAN, 


At  the  Metropolitan  Theater  on  the  26th  of  April  1859,  being  the  occasion 

of  the  Fortieth  Anniversary  of  the  Introduction  of  Odd  Fellowship 

into  the  United  States,  commemorated  by  the  United 

Lodges  and  Encampment  of  the 

Sacramento  Division. 


SACUAMKNTO: 

PUBLISHED    BY  JOHN  J.  MURPHY,  BOOKSELLER, 
Corner  of  J  and  Fourth  Streets. 

1859. 


ENTERED  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 
WILLIAM  BAUSMAN, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  Northern  District  of  California. 


DEMOCRATIC  STANDARD  PRINT. 
Third  St.,  SaerameBto. 


pS/07% 


P7 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  dramatist,  whose  story  lacks  a  hero 
Bloody  and  terrible,  goes  back  to  Nero, 
Or  Tarquin,  or  Caligula,  or  Draco — 

Names  to  a  tragedy  rather  ornamental — 
When  bowie-knives,  revolvers  and  tobacco 

Were  little  known  or  used  ;  and  sentimental 
Episodes  among  the  ladies,  transpired 
After  a  fashion  truly  to  be  admired. 
Roman  Lucretia  covered  her  disgrace 

By  self-destruction.     She  was  a  heroine  ; 
The  proudest  and  the  loveliest  of  her  race, 

And  very  different  in  her  style  from  mine, 
Her's  was  a  noble  geneaology, 
Plucking  its  trophies  from  a  family  tree  ; 
Mine  is  bogus,  tinseled,  and  presuming ; 


INTRODUCTION. 

Deficient  in  the  power  of  illuming 

A  wholesome  moral,  acted  on  the  stage, 

Or  rounded  period  to  a  written  page. 

The  muse  says  thus  much  in  extenuation 

To  her  defects  of  incident  and  plot ; 
Hoping  to  win  the  reader's  approbation 

Whether  her  effort  merits  it  or  not. 
The  poem  aims  to  satirize  frivolity 
In  certain  people,  of  a  spurious  quality, 
And  is  at  least  indiginous,  however 
It  fails  in  object,  or  detailed  endeavor. 


DEDICATORY  ODE. 


When  the  Cycles  first  begun, 
Marked  by  courses  of  the  sun, 
Time  and  Space,  of  instant  birth, 
Occupied  and  ruled  the  earth ; 
Then  the  destinies  of  man 
Were  interwoven  with  the  plan. 
Tyrants  flourished,  kings  arose ; 
Nations  armed  themselves  as  foes  ; 
Freedom  shrieked  and  wept  in  vain, 
O'er  her  heroes  crushed  and  slain  5 
Still  the  crimson  tide  flowed  on, 
Whether  foe  or  ally  won  ; 
Still  the  desecrating  flood 
Flows  in  streams  of  haman  blood. 

Is  there  no  arresting  hand 
Stretching  out  o'er  all  the  land? 
No  Samaritan  abroad, 
Clothed  with  attributes  from  God? 
No  elixir,  sweet  and  pure, 
Malady  like  this  to  cure  ? 
No  encircling  chain  to  bind, 
One  in  heart  and  one  in  mind, 


DEDICATORY   ODE. 

Every  nation,  every  tongue 
From  a  common  parent  sprung? 

"  Yes !"  an  angel  voice  exclaims  : 
"  Here  behold  the  golden. chains ; 
Numbering  exactly  three — 
Emblems  of  Fraternity ! 
One  for  FRIENDSHIP  5  such  as  truth 
Kindles  in  the  heart  of  youth  ; 
One  for  LOVE  ;  so  closely  knit, 
That  passion  may  not  sever  it. 
One  for  TRUTH,  which  binds  the  whole 
With  a  single  thought  and  soul : 
Three  in  one,  and  one  in  three — 
A  unit  and  a  trinity!'7 


Bondsmen  we.  of  boastful  hight, 
Mingling  in  a  secret  right  5 
Fettered  with  a  mystic  tie  5 
Watched  by  the  All-Seeing  Eye; 
Interchanging  social  thought, 
J>\  true  fellowship  begot. 
AH  our  aims,  and  ;ill  our  ends, 
Whether  |o  our  foes  or  friends, 
Are  to  elevate  the  mind, 
War  on  vice  of  every  kind  ; 
Soothe  the  pillow  of  distress, 
Educate  the  fatherless ; 
Win  a  title-deed  to  be 
WORTHY  this  Fraternity. 


PART  I. 

IN  ALL  the  city,  gay  beyond  comparison, 
None  outshone  the  charming  Mrs.  Harrison  ; 
Two  husbands  buried,  with  the  wealth  of  each, 
She  claimed  a  rank  above  the  vulgar  reach. 
Her  origin — why  should  we  pause  to  trace  it  ? 
Two  wedded  names  were  ample  to  deface  it. 
Her  maiden  troth  was  plighted  at  a  season 
When    fluttering  pulses  warm   each  youthful 


vein 


And  passion  prompts  beyond  the  power  of  reason 
Its  headlong  course  to  govern  or  restrain. 


10 


THE      PROTEGE. 


The  man  she  married  certainly  adored  her, 

They  met  one  evening  at  a  watering  place, 
Where  he  had  taken  lodgings  as  a  boarder, 

And  first  encountered  her  bewitching  face. 
She  saw  and  conquered  ;  never  hero  yielded 
With  better  grace  than  Sir  Horatio  Field  did. 
The  second  wooer — (five  years  intervening 

And  Mr.  Field  departed  to  the  grave  ;) 
Expressed  to  her,  in  terms  of  pointed  meaning, 

His  great  desire  to  become  her  slave. 
She  closed  the  bargain  with  a  sigh  dramatic, 

Protesting  how  averse  the  subject  proved  : 
"  And  if  his  language  had  not  been  emphatic, 

She  never  could  have  told  him  he  was  loved ; 
But  hearts  expose  their  secrets  to  detection, 
And  widows  sometimes  need  a  man's  protection!" 

Minute  narration  better  suits  a  story 
Which  treats  of  battles,  chivalry  and  glory; 
So  let  me  here  an  interregnum  premise, 


THE       PROTEGE.  11 

And  simply  say,  the  second  husband,  he  dies ; 
Which  leaves  the  widow  Harrison  in  weeds, 
A  lonely  house,  and  lonelier  heart,  which  bleeds. 
'Twas  natural  she  should  abhor  the  cerements 
Which  wrapped  two  husbands  and  their  fond  en 
dearments  ; 

So  closing  up  the  fountains  of  her  sorrow, 
She  watched  the  dawning  of  a  brighter  morrow. 
Two  husbands  buried,  proved  that  her  tenacity 
Of  life,  by  far  transcended  their  capacity ; 
It  left  her  conduct  free,  in  all  its  errings 
From  lordly  censure  and  unkind  demurrings  ; 

It  gave  her  leave  to  go  and  come  at  pleasure 

To  spend  her  hours  in  gayety  or  leisure  ; 

To  choose  her  friends,  if  friends  were  deemed 

essential, 

With  whom  her  mandates  should  be  all-potential ; 
It  gave  a  lady  moving  in  society, 
The  right  to  be  her  own  judge  of  propriety. 


12  T  II  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

That  morrow  came,  when   hope's  triumphant 

laurel 

Entwined  its  wreath  about  the  widow's  moral  ; 
Her  sky  of  promise  spanned  an  ocean's  shore 
Too  vast  for  boundless  fancy  to  explore  ; 
And  when  her  thought,  exultant,  sought  to  be 
Personified  in  its  vastidity — 
When  whispering  voices  told  her  of  the  fame 
Which  splendor  lent  to  grace  a  widow's  name, 
She  vowed,  that  let  whoever  might  importune, 
Henceforth  she'd  live  the  mistress  of  her  fortune  ! 
Her  heart  and  hand,  thank  God,  were  free  again ; 
The  former  felt  no  lingering  trace  of  pain  ! 
A  pious  pilgrimage,  made  once  a  year 

To  the  joint  tomb  which  held  a  sacred  trust, 
Enabled  her  to  drop  a  sorrowing  tear, 

Upon  the  sod  of  its  comingling  dust. 
She  sought  the  place  in  Autumn's  solemn  time, 
When  Nature's  sadness  had  a  voice  sublime ; 
And   though  the    birds    and    latest  flowers  had 
flown, 


THEPROTEGE.  13 

She  dashed  the  grave  with  perfume  of  cologne. 

A  stately  port  and  beautiful  complexion, 

The  widow  boasted  still,  at  thirty-eight ; 
But  there  were  some  \vho    said,  on  close  inspec 
tion, 
(Perhaps   from  envy,  or   what's   worse,   from 

hate.) 

That  rouge  assisted  nature ;  and  the  toilet 
Which   gave   the    tint,   if  left    unmade,    would 

spoil  it. 

It  mattered  little  whether  this  were  so ; 
Her  stately  figure  had  a  healthful  glow  ; 
Her  rounded  arm  for  sculpture  might  have  been 
A  perfect  model,  to  adorn  a  queen, 
Or  "shape  the  subject  of  a  painter's  dream." 
Aglaia-like,  she  boasted  all  the  graces, 
And  carried  off  the  palm  from  pretty  faces. 
Her  acquirements  bore  an  inverse  ratio 

To  her  pretensions.     Several  works  of  fiction 


14  THE      PROTEGE. 

By  standard  authors;  such  as  Swift,  Boccacio, 
Cervantes,    Scott,    (she  chose  them   for  their 
diction,) 

Were  her  familiars.     She  could  also  play 
The  piano,  which  is  indispensable 

In  one  whose  aspirations  point  the  way 

To  leadership  in  fashion's  ranks  ostensible. 

But  she  was  wise,  as  serpents  are,  and  knew 

A  power  like  theirs,  to  charm  a  certain  few, 

Her  coterie  contained  within  its  ranks, 

Two  or  three  prizes,  and  a  score  of  blanks. 

The  latter  bowed  subservient  to  her  will ; 

Her  smile  created,  and  her  frown  could  kill ; 

What  she  applauded,  left  no  other  choice  ; 

For  theirs  was  but  the  echo  of  her  voice ; 

What   she   condemned,  was  doubly  damned  at 
sight, 

If  censure  gave  her  mood  the  least  delight. 

Thus  her  dominion  was  the  rule  of  might. 


THEPROTEGE  15 

Exalted  beauty  claims  exalted  state, 

Where  wealth  administers  with  lavish  hand ; 
And  though  the  widow's  learning  was  not  great, 

She  had  that  certain  prestige  of  command 
Which  overawes  the  plebeian  of  letters, 
Who  bows  to  rank,  but  smirks  upon  his  betters. 
She  moved  among  the  fashionable  throng, 
Like  one  to  whom  superior  rights  belong, 
And  seemed  to  win,   not  ask  the  homage  ren 
dered, 

As    something    due  where  it  was    humbly  ten 
dered. 

Where  pleasure  reigned,  to  dissipate  the  hours, 
Pre-eminently  shone  her  gifted  powers  ; 
Her  rustling  silks  had  music  in  their  tone  ; 
Her  diamonds  with  a  double  lustre  shone  ; 
The  roses  in  her  hair  contrasted  finely 
With  curls  which  hung  about  her  neck  divinely. 
Her  ivory  shoulder  shone  above  its  prison 
Of  lace  and  velvet,  like  a  moon,  new-risen ; 


16  THE      PROTEGE. 

And  where  her  bodice  ceased  to  offer  cover, 
The  spectacle  was  one  to  craze  a  lover; 
(This  custom  finds  its  hosts  of  imitators, 
And  never  fails  to  draw  on  woman-haters  !  ) 

Since  she  denied  herself  another  union, 
The  widow  found  her  heart  sighed  for  commu 
nion  ; 
Her  friends,  nor  pleasure's  constant  round,  could 

render 

That  happiness  she  hoped  to  find  in  splendor. 
A  lover  of  convenience  would  not  do, 
For  that  was  wicked,  and  brought  scandal,  too  ; 
A  parrot  she  already  had,  whose  screaming 
At  night,  awoke  her  from  her  pleasant  dreaming  ; 
The  madrigals  her  mocking-bird  discoursed  her, 
Of  late  from  all  the  joys  of  home  divorced  her. 
She  would  not,  as  prescribed,  procure  a  monkey  ; 
That  character  shone  out  in  every  flunky 
Who  loitered  in  her  parlors  ;  till  she  hated 


THE      PROTEGE.  17 


Their    subjects,    and  the    tones  in    which   they 

prated. 

What  would  she  do  ?     The  season  is  advancing 
When  gaiety  holds  revel — routs  and  dancing — 
The  glorious  waltz,  ecarte,  whist,  tableaux, 
In  forms 'of  splendor  to  her  vision  rose  ! 

Oh,  blest  invention  !     Woman'  fertile  mind 
Explores  thy  vast  arcana  with  success  ; 
And  bears  a  trophy  from  thy  dark  recess ! 

Which  slumbering  ages  failed  to  know  or  find! 

A  single  idea,  brilliant  and  inspiring 

Sprang  into  birth  when  hope  lay  half  expiring  ! 

A  brain  like  her's  was  rapid  in  expedient ; 

It  grasped  results,  regardless  of  ingredient ; 

Device  and  subterfuge,  though  near  of  kin, 

Take  different  courses  on  the  road  to  sin  ; 

The  one  discovers  what  the  other  chooses, 

And  here  analogy  its  office  loses. 

The  widow,  then,  had  found  a  grand  device, 


18  THE      PROTEGE. 

Untainted  with  the  least  degree  of  vice  ; 
And  thus  it  flashed  into  the  light  of  day — 

HER  DOORS  SHOULD  OPEN  TO  A  PROTEGE  ! 

She  seldom  paused  to  note,  or  calculate 

The  horoscope  impending  o'er  her  fate, 

But  yielded  gracefully  to  what  hefel  ; 

She  therefore  reached,  and  touched  a  silver  bell. 

"Paper  and  pen  and  ink,"  she  proudly  said  ; 

A  servant  heard,  and  instantly  obeyed. 

"Now,  village  beauty,"  thus  she  mused,   while 

holding 

A  letter  written,  and  prepared  for  folding'; 
"  Though  Hebe's  gifts  and  Thisbe's  love-spell 

bound  thee, 

I'll  cast  the  toils  of  city  life  around  thee !  " 
So  said,  and  so  dispatched,  the  letter  sought 
Its  destination,  freighted  with  the  thought 
But  partly  uttered,  though  completely  writ, 
In  the  next  chapter,  where  we  follow  it. 


PART  II. 

Never  did  muse  experience  great  desire 

To  snatch  from  heaven  the   true   Promethean 

fire, 

And  pour  its  flame  into  her  similies, 
So  much  as  mine  ;  which  grasps  at   all  she  sees, 
To  warm  and  spur  the  lagging  pace  of  these. 
Replete  with  obstacles,  her  eye  surveys 
A  trodden  field,  containing  faded  bays  ; 
Where  genius,  Cleaning  in  the  days  gone  by, 
Took  every  thought  of  earth,  and  air,  and  sky  ; 
Leaving  the  modern  author  like  a  stem, 
Stripped  of  the  rose,  which  was  its  diadem. 


20  THE      PROTEGE. 

Let  us  suppose  a  picture.     Such  an  one 

As  life  presents  at  many  a  fire-side  ; 
The  out  door  labor  of  the  day  is  done  ; 

The  ledger  balanced — credit  and  debit  side  ; 
A  family  group,  assembled  round  the  hearth 

As  evening  closed,  with  cold  and  sombre  shade, 
Alternate  gave  its  smile,  to  cheer  the  mirth 

Which  half-a-dozen  romping  children  made  ; 
At  nine  o'clock,  the  latter  went  to  bed, 
After  the  usual  nightly  prayer  was  said. 
A  venerable  man  presided  here  ; 
All  that  his  failing  years  held  high  or  dear, 
Were  clustered   round   him.     In   his   stout    old 

heart 

He  wore  them  as  its  green  and  better  part. 
His  wife  and  daughter  sat  beside  him  still, 

Plying  the  needle,  smiling  and  conversing  ; 
Care  had  no  voice,  nor  time  a  void  to  fill  ; 

Simple  and  brief  their  stories.     The  rehears 
ing 


T  H  E      P  II  O  T  E  G  E  .  21 

Becomes  not  history.     They  were  satisfied  ; 

Their  bliss  was  unassuming  in  its  pride. 

The    knocker    strikes!     A    mutual   glance  and 

flutter 

Betray  surprise.     It  was  some   neighbor  visi 
tor  ? 
The  grocer,  or  the  dairyman,  with  butter? 

Some  gossip-vender,  or  perhaps,  inquisitor 
After  the  village  paper?  which,  to  borrow, 
With  promise  to  "return  again  to-morrow," 
Has  been  a  custom  since  the  days  of  Faust, 
With  those  who  seek  to  read  at  others'  cost. 
It  could  not  be  a  burglar ;  in  your  village, 
Such  gentry  rarely  attempt  rapine  or  pillage. 

Who  was   it   knocked  ?     The   reader    may    in 
quire  ; 

And  properly  enough.     But  first  in  place, 
The  younger  lady's  name  is  called  Elvira, 
Who  responded  to  the  signal  with  a  grace, 


22  THE      PROTEGE. 

And  opened  the    door.     The   postman's  visage 

met  her  ; 
He  made  his  bow,  and  handed  her  a  letter. 

A  letter  by  post  !     That  was  indeed  a  rarity  ! 

In  towns  remotely  situated,  stages, 
Like  "angels'  visits,"  or  a  deed  of  charity, 

Are  semi-occasicnal.     Something  else  engages 
The  quiet  minds  of  people  who  possess 
Within  themselves  the  means  of  happiness. 
The  locomotive,  and  the  rattling  car  ; 
Rumors  of  purchase,  and  impending  war  ; 
Convulsive  throbs  in  business  speculations  ; 
Exploding  banks  and  stock-job  operations ; 
Might  form  a  globe,  and  have  a  common  axis 
The  same  to  them,  so  they  escaped  the  taxes. 
But  to  the  letter  !     Elvira  broke  the  seal. 
It  was  addressed  to  her — an  eloquent  appeal, 
Or  rather,  pressing  invitation  proffered, 
To  "  come  and  share  the  home  a  cottage  offered, 


THEPROTEGE.  23 

Where  music  dwelt,  if  beauty  but  awoke  it, 

To  joyousness,  such  as  the  past  bespoke  it." 

A  waxen  signet,  elegantly  done, 

Was  underwritten — Lucv  HARRISON. 

The  second  postscript,  out  of  some  half-dozen, 

Appealing  to  the  father,  as  her  cousin, 

Denied  his  right,  from  any  fond  compunction, 

To  interdict  the  force  of  her  injunction. 

The   fourth   and  fifth,    contained  much  special 

pleading, 

To  prove  Elvira  needed  "  city  breeding," 
With  interlarded  expletives  on  morals, 
Which  graced  the  theme,  like  ornamental  corals. 

It  would  have  pleased  a  physiognomist 
To  note  the  marked  effect  the  letter  had ; 

The  old  man  being  a  philanthropist, 
His  countenance  was  rarely  ever  sad. 

It  was  a  question  to  his  thinking,  best 

Decided  on  the  instant.     His  request 


24  T  HE      PROTEGE 

Was  a  decree,  so  qualified  and  just 
That  hearinff  was  to  recognise  and  trust. 

o  o 

He  blessed  Elvira,  telling  her  to  go ; 

"  She  was  his  cherub,  and  he  wished  it  so." 

The  mother  wept ;  but  did  not  interpose 

Objections.      Elvira's  happiness  arose 

Above  all  selfish  feeling ;  and  she  said, 

"  Her  husband's  word  was  law,  to  be  obeyed." 

Elvira  was  young,  and  full  of  wild  romance  ; 
It  flushed  her  cheek,  and  sparkled  in  her  glance  ; 
She  longed  for  action — novelty — the  stirring 
Events,  which  make  up  city  life — occurring 
To  interest  and  occupy  the  hours 
Of  pleasure's  votaries  ;  with  odorous  flowers 
And  fragrant  blossoms  in  ideal  vases, 
Such  as  imagination's  pencil  traces. 
Her  father's  love,  a  bountiful  reliance, 
Made  the  request,  and  called  for  her  compliance. 


PART  III. 

It  is  a  stupid  kind  of  situation, 
This  sleepy  pace  of  family  narration  ; 
Casting  the  characters  in  proper  order  ; 
To  one  the  post  of  ward,  another  warder  ; 
Of  heroine  and  hero,  as  expected, 
If  authors'  stories  are  to  be  respected. 
At  once,  then,  let  the  thing 'be  understood, 

Elvira  took  two  days  for  preparation  ; 
Called  on  her  friends  about  the  neighborhood, 

Telling  them  she  should  visit  a  relation. 
(How  near  of  kin,  her  father  had  not  stated, 
Although  she  knew  they  really  were  related,) 


26  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

Received  the  compliment  of  many  kisses 
From  doating  mamas  and  pathetic  misses. 
Some  tears  were  shed  ;  so  basely  crocadile 
That  they  provoked,  in  spite  of  her,  a  smile. 

One  other  scene  remained  of  interview. 

Elvira  loved.     Could  maiden  youth  survive 
That  halcyon  period,  when  t'ie  skies  are  blue — 

The  flowers  fragrant,  and  a  busy  hive 
Of  glowing  thoughts  is  struggling  in  the  breast 
Of  ardent  natures — ffivinff  them  unrest — 

O  O 

And  keep  their  honey  sacred  ?     Books  declare, 
And  countless  teachings  of  the  old  traditions, 
That  selfishness  may  flourish  everywhere, 

With  barbarous    tribes,    and  in  the  Christian 

missions  ; 
Among   the    Esquimaux,    and    Barolongs,    and 

savages 

On  Frazer  River,  or  the  Rocky  Mountains; 
Leading  to  warfare,  and  all  kinds  of  ravages 


THE      PROTEGE.  27 

Suggested  by  the  malice  of  its  fountains — 
Excepting  only  in  a  woman's  soul, 
When  it  first  bows  to  love's  sublime  control. 
Her'swas  a  shrine  erected  to  Justinian, 

A  village  magnate,  and  a  noble  youth ; 
Who  filed  his  claim  to  the  supreme  dominion 

Of  its  devotion,  and  its  virgin  truth. 


PART  IV. 

If  curious  people — some  are  always  curious 
To  ascertain  the  current  from  the  spurious — 
Had  tarried,  on  the  20th  of  December, 
(A  date  1  hope  the  reader  will  remember,) 
To  note  a  throng  of  busy  dealers — they  might 
Have  caught  a  gleam   of  gossip's  radiant    day 
light. 

These  dealers  carried  hampers,  fowls,   confec 
tions, 

Cakes,  boxes,  jars,   and   fruits  of  all   complex 
ions  : 


T  HE      PROTEGE.  2 

Guavas,  lemons,  sugars,  cordials,  spices, 
Besides  a  quantity  of  wines  and  ices  ; 
With  many  other  delicacies,  savored 
To  suit  the  palates  of  the  highly  favored. 
And  set  them  down,  each  parcel,  one  by  one, 
Before  the  door  of  Mrs.  Harrison. 
Her  cottage  mansion  was  a  kind  of  palace — - 
A  target  for  the  envious  shots  of  malice — 
With  inner  glories,  such  as  poverty 
Had  no  conception  dwelt  with  luxury. 

The  widow's  purpose  was  a  fete — Elvira 
At  any  moment  might  drop  in  upon  her. 

A  journey  of  two  hundred  miles,  wrould  tire  a 
Much  stronger  constitution ;  it  had  done  her 

So,  many  times  ;  in  fact,  whene'er  she  made  it, 

She  had  experience,  therefore,  when  she  said  it. 

Elvira  came — a  coming  duly  bruited, 

And  was  thrice  welcomed  by  a  host  of  friends  ; 


30  T  II  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

Even  before  her  strength  had  been  recruited. 

The  smile  of  fashion  its  approval  lends 
To  such  occasions,  where  the  obligation 
Is  felt  to  be  a  courtesy  of  station  ; 
These  were   the  widow's  friends,  and  her's   by 
parity 

Of  reasoning.     The  forms  of  etiquette 
Admit,  constructively,  of  such  familiarty. 

Breeding's  a  thing  that  no  one  should  forget ; 
It  is  not  based  upon  those  cold  punctilios 
Ascribed  to  upstarts  and  the  supercilious  ; 
But  gushes  forth  from  genial  hearts  spontaneous, 
As  now,  in  kind  entirely  miscellaneous. 
The  widow  met  her  handsome  ward,  enfolding 

Her  healthful  form  within  a  warm  embrace  ; 
A  tribute  of  affection  worth  beholding 

Especially  when  practiced  with  a  grace. 
The  other  ladies  understood  their  cue, 
And  welcomed  her  with  their  embraces  too  ! 


THE       PROTEGE.  31 

Elvira  stood  uncovered.     The  widow's  eyes 

Were  fixed  upon  her  in  a  blank  surprise. 

"My   darling  child!     Plow  could    they  so   de 

ceive  me  ! 
They    said    you    were    a  handsome    hoyden 

grown  ; 
And  now,  by  ail  that's  beautiful,  believe  me, 

A  fairer  brow  on  woman  never  shown  ! 
That  blush,   too  !     Stay   thy    blushes  ;    let    me 

speak, 

And  kiss  again,  the  ruby  on  that  cheek! 
What  eyes  ;  what  lips  ;  what  teeth,  and  hands, 

and  stature  ; 

(I  will  be  heard  in  mine  own  nomenclature.) 
What  motion  !     Dearest,  thou  art  wholly  mine  ; 
We'll  teach  all  meaner  beauties  how  to  shine  !" 
(The  closing  words,  that  others  might  not  hear, 
Were  whispered  softly  in  Elvira's  ear.) 

The  Cyclops  and  Briareus,  in  a  Pantheon 


T  II  E      PRO  T  E  G  E  . 

Of  demi-gods,  such  as  professor  Tooke 
Has    furnished    schools,    to    whet    the    classic 
fancy  on, 

With  their  achievements  noted  in  his  book, 
Were  very  opposite  in  the  kind  of  function 
Which  each  received  with  heaven's  especial  unc 
tion  ; 

Briareus  had  a  hundred  heads,  and  hands 
Some  fifty,  to  enforce  his  dread  commands ; 
Besides  a  savage  courage,  truly  Roman 

Or  Grecian — (both  those  ancient  nations  knew 

him ;) 
The  monster  felt  secure,  and  cared  for  no  man, 

Till  Jupiter  caught  hold  of  him,  and  threw  him, 
Bound  fast  in  chains,  under  the  mountain  Etna, 
Not  quite  so  pleasant  as  a  trip  to  Gretna ! 

The  Cyclops — (how  capricious  Fortune  varies 

Her  favors  !     Even  in  a  luscious  mouth, 
Whose  breath  should  be  like  perfumes  from  the 
South, 


THE      PROTEGE.  33 

She  introduces  the  detested  caries ! 

Pugs  up  a  nose,  casts  in  the  eye  strabismus, 

Or  plays  some  other  naughty  prank  to  quiz  us  !) 

The  Cyclops  had  a  single  eye — "  a  buster," 

As  modern  phrase  would  style  it;  full  of  luster, 

Directly  on  the  frontal  bone  located  : 

And  this  was  what  discriminating  Fate  did. 

"  Well,  where's  the  application  ?"  do  you  ask? 

Indeed,  that  's  rather  difficult  to  tell ; 
The  muse  has  ventured  on  a  thankless  task, 

(I  only  hope  she  may  discharge  it  well,) 
And  means  to  say,  perhaps,  that  Mrs.  Harrison 
Outdid  Elvira,  when  in  the  comparison 
Of  talkers — one  discharged  a  ceaseless  battery 
Of  words  amounting  to  the  sheerest  flattery  ; 
At  least  the  other  thought  so.     While   she   lis 
tened, 

A  tear-drop  on  her  drooping  lashes  glistened. 
It  might  have  been,  to  know  that  she  possessed 


R 


34  T  H  K      P  R  O  T  E  Ci  E  . 

Sufficient  charms  to  make  a  woman  blest ; 
But,  judging  from  her  innocence  and  youth  ; 
Her  soul  as  spotless  as  the  shrine  of  truth, 
It  were,  no  doubt,  a  very  wise  conclusion, 
To  say  her  tears  resulted  from  confusion. 

It  has  been  shown  how  prodigally  lavish 
The  widow  was  of  money,  to  prepare 
A  fete  of  royal  splendor,  that  should  ravish 

All  rival  hearts,  and  fill  them  with  despair. 
It  was  her  right,  conforming  to  her  humor; 
She  gloried  in  the  wide-extended  rumor 
Which  spread  abroad  among  the  fashionable, 
Of  viands  purchased  to  adorn  her  table  ; 
Of  music — some  said  fully  fifty  pieces— 
Of  crimson  furbelows  and  lacy  fleeces  ; 
Candelabrum  of  gold,  and  those  rich  oddities 
Which   Turks  and  Chinese  deal  in  as  commod 
ities  ; 

Including  flowers,  indiginous  and  exotic, 
In  such  profusion  as  to  be  chaotic. 


T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  (i  E  .  35 

None  who  knew  her  doubted  her  ability 
To  entertain  with  lady-like  nobility. 

Had  my  muse  the  florid,  terse  felicity 
Of  Butler's  pen,  aside  from  all  complicity 
With  plagiarism  ;  this  story  Hudibrastic, 
Constructed  of  a  language  wholly  plastic, 
Descriptive,  liquid,  metrical  and  pungent, 
Should  flash  with  wit  and  metaphor  abundant. 

It  is  too  late  to  falter.     Onward  !   then  ; 

Let  criticism  do  its  spite  ;  and  when 

The  public  condemnation — or  what's  even  worse, 

Silent  contempt,  bestows  its  mildew  curse 

Upon  her  efforts  ;   "let  it  be  understood  " — 

As  valiant  Artaximines  declared — 
"She  would  have  done  much  better,  if  she  could," 

And  of  their  praises,  not  their  censure,  shared. 


PART  V. 

Wise  heads  regard  it  as  a  curious  riddle, 

Without  solution,  (which  is  still  more  curious,) 
That  the  tortuous  cat-gut  of  a  fiddle, 

However  softly  touched — however  furious — 
In  daytime  fails  completely  to  inspire 

Those  exquisite  emotions  of  the  night, 
Which  waken  in  the  soul  a  soft  desire 

Beneath  a  flood  of  artificial  light. 
Per  contra :     It  is  equally  mysterious, 

That  febrile  constitutions  cannot  bear 
The  sun's  departure  ;  they  become  delirious 

From  simply  breathing  night's  mephitic  air; 


T  HE      PROTEGE.  37 

And  how  revolting  are  the  teas  and  physic 
To  invalids,  confined  with  croup  or  tisic  ! 

Our  grandads  and  grandarnes,  who  were  "  old 

fogies," 

Accoutered  in  their  homespuns  and  their  "sto 
gies," 
Before  the  age  of  hacks  and  patent  leather, 

Thought  nothing  of  a  journey  of  five  miles, 
Despite    the   threatening  signs  of  "  wind  and 

weather," 
Across    the  fields,  surmounting    "stubs    and 

stiles," 

To  join  the  "  break  down  "  of  a  Highland  fling, 
Or  solus,  cut  a  graceful  "  pigeon-wing  !" 
Like  "  Cousin  Sally  Dilliard,"  if  a  brook 
Should  intervene  upon  the  route  they  took, 
They  did  not  stop  to  grumble  or  beshrew  it, 
But  tucked  their  dresses  up  and  waded  thro'  it  ! 
Their  custom  was,  to  "start"  the  dance  at  seven, 
And  keep  it  going  "  constant"  till  eleven. 


38  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

Apropos  of  such  an  hour.     The  twenty-first 

Of  December,  like  a  meteor,  burst 

Upon  the  world  of  fashion.     From  its  dawning, 

The  moments  had  been  occupied  in  conning, 

Furbishing  and  stitching.     The  mantua-makers 

Perfumers,  hair-dressers  and  undertakers 

Of  toilet  duty,  reapt  a  silver  crop 

Of  dimes  and  dollars.     Mrs.  Fitzlollypop 

For  two  whole  nights  and  crucifying  days, 

Kept  herself  tightly  laced  in  patent  stays, 

Under  instructions  from  a  fancy  milliner, 

And  had  a  vertigo,  which  came  nigh  killing  her. 

The  Thompson  sisters  met  with  a  disaster 

Not    quite    so    serious,    but    decidedly    more 

stupid  ; 

They  used  upon  their  cheeks  a  kind  of  plaster, 
Or   poultice,  termed    "  The  Fairy   Charm  of 

Cupid," 

To  whiten  the  complexion,  and  to  soften 
The  skin,  as  they  had  done  with  success  often. 


T  II  E      PROTEGE 


39 


This  beautifier,  in  the  general  fidget 

Which  prevailed,  being  mixed  by  Irish  Bridget 

With  acids  instead  of  Lubin,  scarified 

And  burnt  the  spot  to  which  it  was  applied. 

Eleven  had  struck,  P.  M.;  and  then  a  rumbling 

Of  carriages  broke  on  the  listening  ear  ; 
At  first  it  seem'd  like  distant  thunder,  grumbling; 

But  this  was  not  the  season  of  the  year 
For   thunder.     There  were  a   hundred,  less  or 

more, 

All  of  which  drove  directly  to  the  door 
Of  Mrs.  Harrison's  house,  or  rather  gate, 
And  there  discharged  their  valuable  freight. 

The  age  is  given  to  progression  ;  therefore, 
It  is  not  every  why  that  has  its  wherefore  ; 
Our  penurious  grandads  and  grandinamas, 
If  they   preferred    their    homespuns    and    ban 
danas, 


40  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

And  early  hours,  and  primitive  seclusion 
To  costly  equipage  and  gay  profusion, 
That  was  their  matter — a  bliss  of  ignorance 
Containing  neither  merit,  wit  nor  romance. 

If  the  antipodes  were  joined,  not  parted 
By  intervening  space  ;  if  hollow-hearted 
People  were  anomalies  ;  if  anything 
Which  is  impossible,  through  time  should  wing- 
Its  flight  to  earth  ;  if  even  happy  Lazarus 
In  Abraham's  bosom  sought  to  gather  us  ; 
We  would  pronounce  the  exploit  a  miracle, 
And  exercise  the  right  to  doubt  it  still. 
On  this  hypothesis,  it  would  be  idle 
To  strip  Pegassus  of  his  croup  and  bridle. 

Let  us  look  into  those  magnificent  rooms, 
All  redolent  of  splendor  and  perfumes  ; 
Not  to  attempt  description ;  they  defied  it  ; 
As  any  one  might  find,  who  vainly  tried  it. 


THE       PROTEGE.  41 

The  charming  widow  arid  her  ward  were  standing 
Within  the  center  of  the  room,  commanding 
A  general  view.     As  the  gay  company  entered, 
Of  course,  all  eyes  upon  the  twain  were  centered. 
An  usher  named  the  guests,  who  first  paid  duty 
Unto  the  hostess  ;  next,  to  the  blushing  beauty. 
Who  in  due  form  received  a  presentation 
As  "a  loved  friend  and  visiting  relation." 

Oh,  human  heart  !   how  varied  thy  emotions  ! 

With  depth  and  surface ;  where  alternate  hope 
And  fear  predominate — like  a  vast  ocean's 

Calms  and  billows  ;  love's  sweet  kaleidoscope, 
Giving  to  thoughts  disjointed  and  erratic 
A  symmetry  and  coloring  prismatic — 
In  thy  divinest  workings  there  is  fault; 
The  fetid  odors  of  a  charnel-vault 
Contain  no  matter  equally  putrescent 
With  thy  malice,  surmounted  by  the  crescent 
Of  hate  and  envy — above  all  other  sins 
Begotten  of  Satan's  dam — unsightly  twins. 


42  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  d  E  . 

Many  a  fo///'</yr,   set  oil' with  sprigs  and  roses, 

(To  cover  locks  of  silver-sprinkled  hair,) 
Many  a  bosom,  where  the  cross  reposes, 

(As  if  the  crucifix  possessed  a  virtue  there  !) 
Concealed  what  alchymists,  with  all  their  science, 
Could  not  fathom — a  voiceless,  proud  defiance 
Against  Elvira ;   who,  poor  innocent,  had  not 
The  least  conception  of  their  envious  thought. 

The  obverse  side  of  bosoms  and  of  heads, 

Like  medals,  graven  to  perpetuate 
A  deed  of  history  ;  their  meaning  fheds 
To  magnify  the  praises  of  the  great ; 
And  to  be  read  aright,  must  be  turned  over 
As  printed  pages  are,  within  a  cover. 
Had  she  not  beauty  of  a  kind  resplendent, 
Niether  on  art  nor  artifice  dependent  ? 

Miss  Littlejohn,  who  joined  the  promenade 
Hanging  upon  the  arm  of  her  admirer, 


THE      PROTEG 


A  scrutiny  and  criticism  made 

Of  everything  pertaining  to  Elvira. 
"  She  certainly  is  pretty  ;   so  is  glass 

When  stained,  or  marble,  with  a  final  polish  ; 
But  I  could  count  a  dozen  as  they  pass  — 

For  instance,  Mrs.  Myrtle,  or  Miss  Dollish," 
Quoth  she,  "as  evidently  her  superior, 
As  these  fine  gildings  to  the  room's  exterior  ! 
How  shabbily  she  dresses  !   and  how  gawkish  ! 

Even  the  dimensions  of  her  robe  battante 
Are  circumscribed  to  a  degree  that's  mawkish  ! 

Perhaps  the  stuff  was  rather  dear  and  scant  ? 
And  in  the  village  where  the  girl  was  taught, 
Such  articles  are  at  the  grocer's  bought  !" 


PART  VI. 

It  is  not  only  fortunate  that  we 

Cannot  "  see  in  ourselves  what  others  see," 

Or  our  defects,  of  pyramidal  size, 

Would  shut  us  from  the  hopes  of  Paradise ; 

As  orbs  pursuing  their  assigned  ellipse, 

Obscure  the  sun  with  shadows  of  eclipse. 

Of  equal  wisdom  is  that  Providence 

Which  teaches  there's  atonement  for  offence  ; 

So  that  our  virtues,  in  the  general  reckoning, 

Toward  the  goal  of  happiness  keep  beckoning ; 

Holding  us  in  the  path  of  rectitude, 

"  Whose  ways  are  pleasantness,"  and  truly  good, 


THE       PROTEGE.  45 

Elvira  noted  nothing.     A  conflicting 

Tumult  of  passions  moved  upon  her  soul, 
Which  her  weak  powers  failed  of  interdicting. 

Her  nature  was  not  of  those  that  can  control 
The  current  of  events,  when  it  is  flowing 
Directly  in  the  course  she  would  be  going. 
The  music,  like  a  dream,  warm  and  impassioned, 
With  ideal  shapes  each  flitting  object  fashioned ; 
And  twenty  mirrors,  flashing  back  the  light 
Of  gold  and  diamonds  on  her  ravished  sight, 
Seemed  life,  and  spring,  and  happiness  supernal, 
Whose  gushing  rhapsodies  would  prove  eternal. 

She  yielded  wholly  to  the  spell.     It  bore  her 
As  zephyrs  bear  the  blossoms ;  floating,  glanc 
ing 

In  air  and  gaslight ;  everything  before  her 

Partook  of  bliss  arid  beauty ;  and  the  dancing — 

(Especially  as  practiced  -now-a-days  ; 

An  arm  completely  round  a  lady's  stays  ; 


46  THE      PROTEGE. 

The  cheeks  in  contact,  with  a  sudden  whirl, 
Enough  to  dizz  and  startle  any  girl — ) 
Confused  her  senses ;  as  it  truly  might, 
In  one  who  never  witnessed  such  a  sight, 
Nor,  mingling  in  its  mazes,  felt  the  charm 
Of  being  clasped  by  man's  supporting  arm  ! 

Is  not  the  world  a  heaven  at  such  a  time, 
When  bounding  hearts  in  guilelessness  sublime, 
Untrammeled  by  the  mercenary  fears 
Which  desecrate  their  shrine  in  after  years, 
Exalt,  in  their  own  exaltation,   merit 
Conceived  or  real,  without  wish  to  blur  it ! 
Who  has  not  felt  it  ?     Let  him  know  the  death 
Which  hopeless  felons  die  ;   no  sacred  breath 
Of  prayer  or  priestly  consolation  given, 
For  such  a  soul  deserves  to  die  unshriven  ! 

'Tis  said  affliction  has  a  common  level 

For  prince  and  peasant  ;  high  and  low  degree ; 


T  HEP  R  O  T  E  (i  E  .  47 

The  case  is  different  where  the  sound  of  revel 

Predominates  ;  rank  shuns  affinity 
With  meaner  objects  ;  and  all  meaner  ties 
Than  fashion's  pomp,  its  votaries  despise. 

Captain  Bombuster,  in  his  epaulettes, 
A  very  trifling  circumstance  forgets, 
To  wit:  that  his  income  by  commutation, 
Largess  and  salary,  fall  below  his  station. 
If  his  indulgent  creditors  pushed  the  matter, 
(Inclusive  of  tailor,  bootmaker  and  hatter,) 
The  reveille  which  "beat  him  up  to  quarters," 
Would  shock  his  nerves  much  more  than  shells 
or  mortars. 

Professor  Hartshorn,  with  the  curved  proboscis, 

Lately  composed  a  famous  diagnosis 

On  the  diseases  of  poodles  ;  see  him  strut, 

Like  Gulliver,  a  giant  in  Lilliput, 

For  half  a  million,  generally  confessed 

His  realty  and  personal  stand  assessed, 


48  THE      PROTEGE. 

He  was  also  the  inventor  and  patentee 
Of  an  incomparable  pill  ;  and  he 
Arose  from  nothing,  (how  very  funny!) 
By  the  sheer  force  of  impudence  and  money. 

Behold  Miss  Perripool,  and  mark  the  history 
Which  properly  becomes  a  part  of  this  story. 
Her  crimson  satin  and  her  diamond  set, 
Who  sees  will  not  be  likely  to  forget. 
She  is  a  banker's  daughter.     Every  fold 
Of  her  black  hair  is  intertwined  with  gold ; 
Pearls,  amethists,  carbuncles,  sapphires  mingle 
In  unison  of  blaze;  her  flounces  jingle 
With  bugles  and  tassels,  elaborately  wrought ; 

Found  only  in  the  bazaars  of  foreign  traders, 
And  all  the  way  from  the  East  Indies  brought, 

To  ornament  her  person.     The  invaders 
Of  African  deserts  and  sacred  antiquities 
Had  rifled  their  stores,  the  lady's  taste  to  please. 
This  peerless  beauty  boasted  that  her  dress 
Cost  full  ten  thousand — not  a  penny  less. 


THE       PROTEGE.  49 

A  year  ago  her  sire,  the  banker,  failed 

For  something  like  a  million — maybe  more  ; 
Who  could  depict  the  misery  entailed  ? 

Not  even  the  ocean,  in  its  angry  roar, 
Sends  up  to  heaven  complainingly,  a  moan 
So  terribly  appalling,  as  the  groan 
Of  the  poor  orphans,  widows  and  mechanics, 
(Who  always  suffer  most  by  business  panics,) 
To  find  themselves  within  a  tyrant  power, 
Which  crushed  their  life  out  in  a  single  hour. 

The  banker  survived,  as  bankers  always  do; 
Three  months  elapsed,  and  he  commenced  anew  ; 
Communities  get  into  quite  a  fever 

At  such  events  ;  and  so,  to  keep  them  still, 
The  lawyers  call  for  some  one  as  Receiver — 

A  kind  of  modern  financial  miracle, 
Generally  chosen  from  the  legal  ranks, 
As  having  greater  knowledge  of  the  banks. 


50  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E 

He  takes  the  assets  and    holds  them  ;    (holding 

means, 

In  the  vocabulary  of  these  go-bet  wesns, 
Using — a  sort  of  term  convertible, 
When  the  assets  are  gold  and  silver — portable  !) 

The  banker  survived.     Why  not  ?     His  credit 

Was  good  as  ever.     He  had  sympathisers  ; 
And  he  was  honest !   Every  person  said  it  ; 

Except  the  envious,  and  the  heartless  misers. 
The  "Receiver"  had  compromised  his  liabilities 
At  five  cents  on  the  dollar.     Let  hostilities 
Be  buried.     It  was  a  shame  that  rancor 
Should  seek  to  persecute  an  honest  banker  ! 

There  stands  a  lady,  portly  and  majestic  ; 

Her  necklace  first-water  diamonds,  to  the  tune 
Of  three  thousand  dollars.     Her  domestic 

Affairs  are  in  a  state  of  healthful  bloom  ; 
Her  sideboards  groan  beneath  the  massive  weight 
Of  Bohemian  glass-wares  and  of  costly  plate  ; 


T  H  K       P  K  O  T  E  ti  E  .  51 

Chargers  of  silver  ;  tea-sets  of  the  same  ; 
Carpets  from  Turkey  ;  vases  of  porcelain  ; 
A  stately  mansion  on  a  prominent  street ; 
Form  but  the  merest  epitome  of  her  complete 
Establishment.     Fashion's  seal  indorses 
Her  diploma  ;  its  vignette  a  span  of  horses 
Attached  to  a  splendid  carriage,  with  outrider 
In  livery.     Mark  you  the  man  beside  her  ! 
It  is  her  husband — one  who  wears  the  sandal 
Shoon  of  that  denomination.      Scandal 
Says  very  many  wicked  things  ;  in  his  case 
They  have  been  proven  execrably  base. 
And  so  in  hers.     However  cold  and  haughty 
Her  manner  seems  to  him,  'tis  only  thought  a 
Shrewd  invention,  to  mislead  those  prying  mon 
gers, 
Whose  appetite  for  gossip  always  hungers. 

This  gentleman — a  merchant — Mr.  Emery, 
From    earliest    youth    possessed    a    treacherous 
memory, 


52  T  H  E      PRO  T  E  G  K  . 

And  one  day  signed,  unwittingly,  a  paper 

Drawn  on  the  foreign  house  of  Pugg  &  Draper, 

For  eighty  thousand  dollars  ;  which  came  back 

Protested  ;  but  alas  !   and  oh,  alack  ! 

It  found  him  penniless ;  his  stock  of  good  assigned 

To  whom,  or  why,  the  sheriff  could  not  find. 

(It  cannot  be  amiss  just  here  to  menton, 

No;ie  doubted  honest  Emery's  intention 

To  do  the  fair  thing.     Yet,  somehow  or  other, 

The  draft — a  forged  one — got  him  into  pother  !) 

He  was  convicted,  sentenced — but  his  friends 

Obtained  a  pardon.     Here  his  story  ends. 

That  of  his  wife  "hath  this  extent,  no  more," 

She  was  a  nameless  seamstress  ;  one  who  bore 

An  excellent  character,  above  suspicion. 

She  married  Emery,  and  her  changed  condition 

Is  here  apparent — free  of  all  hypocrisy ; 

And  they  are  patterns  for  our  aristocracy ! 

There  sits  a  plain  and  common  kind  of  person, 
At  least,  so  far  as  dress  denotes  the  man  ; 


T  H  E      P  II  O  T  E  (i   E  .  5-3 

Some  Smith,  or  Jones,  or  Johnson,  or  McPherson, 

Completely  under  ostracism's  ban. 
His  being  there,  no  doubt  was  condescension, 
The  reason  why,  the  hostess  failed  to  mention. 
Scarcely  a  glance  of  favor  falls  upon  him  ; 
It  was  the  cue  to  overlook  and  shun  him. 
His  shabbiness  is  painful.     He  lacks  caste. 
He  is  the  stubble  of  a  harvest  past ! 
He  might  have  been  a  Satrap,  or  Bashaw, 

A  Grand  Mogul,  or  even  Haroun  Alraschid  ; 
'Twas    wrong  to  freeze,  when  such    a   general 
thaw 

Prevailed  there.    Why  not  do  as  the  mass  did 
Assume  a  part?     Almighty  Jupiter  Tonans, 

Magnus  Apollo,  or  irresistible  Narcissus, 
Born  of  the  Turks,  the  Persians,  or  Greeks,  or 
.Romans, 

Would  lose  identity  among  these  dames  and 

misses, 

If  modesty  controlled  them,  and  they  chose 
To  visit  such  a  place  in  shabby  clothes. 


•>  T  II  K      I'  K  0  T  K  G  E  . 

He  was,  in  fact,  a  gentleman  and  scholar, 
Who  worshipped  science,  and  despised  the  dollar; 
His  graceful  pen  was  known  to  all  the  leaders 

In  literary  circles — but  to  these  people, 
Critics  in  gossip's  idle  world,  not  readers — 

His  achievements  might  tower  like  a  steeple — 
A  forest  of  chaplets  cluster  round  his  name, 
Smith  or  McPherson  suited  them  the  same. 
He  was  deficient  in  the  ornamental ; 
A  thing  to  them  important  and  essential. 

Fond  Mrs.  Harrison  stood  by  Elvira, 

Or  rather,  followed  her  with  watchful  glances, 
Hers  was  a  form  could  readily  inspire  a 

Feeling  of  joy  in  woman.     It  enhances 
Their  self-love  at  the  half-way  house  of  life 
(In  one  who  has  discharged  the  cares  of  wife,) 
To  recognise  some  feature  in  these  elves, 
Reminding  them  of  what  they  were  themselves. 
She  counseled  as  a  mother  might  ;   (that  is 
A  fashionable  mother  ;)  taught  her  how  to  quiz 


T  H  E      P  R  O  T  K 


The  gentlemen,  and  draw  them  kindly  to  her, 
Either  to  serve  her  purpose,  or  to  woo  her. 
(Few  women  require  instructions  on  such  points, 

They  have  a  mother  wit  to  supercede  it, 
Which  man's  philosophy  so  utterly  disjoints 

That  he's  a  fool  who  will  not  pause  and  heed  it.) 

So  passed  the  fleeting  time,  till  the  fair  daughters 
Of  Sol  and  Chronis  waked  their  drowsy  sire  ; 
His  rising  beams  flashed  o'er  a  world  of  waters, 

And  robed  the  sky  in  tints  of  liquid  fire. 
The  revellers  disbanded,  in  the  haze 
Of  early  morning.     Byron  aptly  says  — 
"  Ladies  who  have  been  dancing,  or  partaking 

Of  any  other  kind  of  exercise, 
Should  make  their  preparations  for  forsaking 
;    The  ball-room  ere  the  sun  begins  to  rise, 
Because,  when  once  the  lamps  and  candles  fail, 
His  blushes  make  them  look  a  little  pale  !" 


PART  VII. 

The  muse  indulges  one  of  "  fancy's  freaks," 
And  finds  the  license  come  in  proper  play, 

To  bring  the  reader  forward  some  six  weeks, 
For  which  indulgence  she  "will  ever  pray, 

And  so  forth,"  as  they  sign  it  in  petitions 

For  certain  objects,  "  subject  to  conditions." 

Elvira  corresponded  with  Justinian 

And  others  of  her  friends,  some  three  or  four  ; 
And  in  her  letters  gave  a  free  opinion 

Of  what  she  heard  and  saw.     See  if  it  bore 
Resemblance  to  itself,  in  all  the  changes 
Through  which  imagination  sometimes  ranges  : 


THE      PROTEGE.  57 

"  Dearest,"  (to  Justinian,  letter  number  one,) 
"  That  naughty  woman,  Mrs.  Harrison, 
Has  kept  my  brain  so  constantly  excited, 
Perplexed,  amazed,  and  dizzy  and  delighted, 
That  I  am  hardly  fit  to  write  a  letter, 
Even  to  you,  who  know  me  so  much  better 
Than  others  ;  and  would  a  fault  excuse, 
When  they  might  harshly  censure,  and  refuse. 
Last  night  she  gave  a,  fete,  by  far  more  gorgeous 
Than  those  of  the  Capulets,  or  regal  Borgias, 
At  Verona  and  Ferara  ;  (you  remember, 
We  saw  them  at  the  play,  in  all  their  splendor  :) 
And  Justinian,  darling!    would  you  guess, 
This  fete  was  given  to  me  !     "It  would  impress," 
So  Mrs.  Harrison  said,   "  upon  the  gay 
A  proper  respect  for  her  young  protege." 
I  don't  admire  the  ladies  much.     They  stare 
One  wholly  out  of  countenance  ;  and  repair 
To  separate  corners  of  the  room,  in  squads, 

(A  military  term  ;  but  where'sthe  odds?) 
c 


60  THE      PROTEGE 

The  sky  of  pleasure  has  a  brilliant  glow  ; 
Its  tide  is  onward  in  a  peaceful  flow. 
Elvira,  guided  by  the  skillful  hand 
Of  Mrs.  Harrison,  ventured  out  from  land 
Upon  its  seething  waters.     Each  excess 
Of  sweet  indulgence  brought  new  happiness. 
The  shade  of  Scylla,  and  Charybdis'  roar, 
If  seen  or  heard,  were  far  towards  the  shore. 
Theaters,  entertainments,  operas,  balls, 
Country  excursions,  pic-nics,  morning  calls, 
Were  daily  pastimes — nightly  continuities 
In  fashion's  train  of  elegant  congruities. 

It  is  a  period  of  just  four  weeks 

Since  Elvira's  arrival ;  her  glowing  cheeks 

Are  moist  with  tears.     Why  weeps  the  maiden  ? 

Is  her  young  heart  with  sorrow7  overladen  ? 

She  takes  a  pen  ;  the  quietude  invites  ; 

Her  pride  is  up,  and  this  is  what  she  writes  : 

"  Justinian,  you're  in  error.     Mr.  Bodu 


THE      PRO  T E  G  E  . 

Would  not  have  said  such  cruel  things  of  you. 
WThen  in  a  better  humor,  write.     Adieu." 

The  golden  links  of  that  romantic  chain 

Which  early  love  had  linked,  are   loosed  and 
broken ; 

Never  to  fetter  those  two  souls  again, 

Nor  hang  about  them  as  a  mutual  token. 

Absence  and  doubt — sisters  in  evil  doing — 

Completely  intercept  the  work  of  wooing. 

The  final  letter  :  "  Justinian,  let  the  past 

Be  all  forgotten.     I  can  bear  the  shock. 
We  are  too  young  to  have  a  shadow  cast 

Upon  the  future.     Jealousy's  a  rock 
Which  shatters  the  affections.     Your  suspicions 

Have  done  me  great  injustice  ;  but  no  matter  ; 
I  neither  ask  nor  offer  you  conditions ! 

My  language  must  not  be  construed  to  flatter 
A  hope  of  other  thought  or  other  feeling 
Than  that  which  now  is  spoken.     The  concealing 


6*2  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

Might  do  us  both  dishonor  in  the  end. 
Farewell,  Justinian.     Deem  me  still  thy  friend  ! " 

Mrs.  Harrison  read  the  letter  over, 

(Her  cunning  had  suggested  it)  and  said 

u  That  was  the  way  to  cure  an  upstart  lover, 
Obscurely  born,  and  purely  country-bred!" 

11  Nothing  is  true  but  Heaven ;"  nothing  sure 
Excepting  sorrow  and  death ;  and  nothing  pure 
But  Truth's  eternal  principle,  which  bears 
A  golden  fruit,  amid  surrounding  tares ! 

Two  years  have  passed.     The  handsome  protege 
Is  an  acknowledged  leader  in  the  gay 
And  fashionable  circles  ;  she  has  caught 
The  inspiration  of  the  thing  ;  and  brought 
Her  accomplishments  to  such  perfection, 
That  she  no  longer  "  musters  for  inspection." 
The  widow's  purse,  containing  any  amount — 
Aye,  even  the  freedom  of  her  bank  account. 


T  H  E      PROTEGE. 


63 


Bestows  its  shining  tribute  to  support 
A  grandeur  worthy  of  Eugenie's  court. 

"Can  such  things  truly  be,  and  not  excite 
Our  special  wonder  ?"     Did  Roman  Croesus 

(As  rich  as  he  was  valiant  in  a  fight) 
Compose  an  essay,  or  devise  a  thesis, 

Explanatory  of  the  great  disparity 

Existing  between  a  bounty  and  a  charity  ? 

One  frosty  morning,  about  the  hour  of  ten, 

A  gentleman  inquired  for  Mrs.  Harrison  ; 
It  was  her  lawyer — one  of  the  shrewdest  men 

That  in  the  lists  of  legal  talent  shone. 
After  the  usual  ceremonies,  he 

Proceeded  to  enlarge  upon  his  business. 
What  has  he  said  !     The  widow  trembles  ;   see 

How  pale  she  grows  !    She  faints  from  sudden 
dizziness  ! 


64  T  II  E    .  P'R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

He  told  her  plainly,  that  her  real  estate, 

.    Which  yielded  her  such  princely  revenues, 

For  some  time  being  mortgaged,  with  the  date 

Of  a  foreclosure  pending,  she  must  choose 
To  let  them  go  for  nothing,  or  redeem  them. 

He  had  done  all  he  could  for  a  renewal, 
And  truth  will  out  !  (an  artist  should  have  seen 
them !) 

Hoping  she  would  not  think  his  mission  cruel — 
The  titles  were  defective  and  disputed  ! 
Soon  as  the  question  had  been  fairly  mooted, 
He  gave  the  deeds  a  thorough  overhauling, 
And  found  the  fact  apparent  as  appaling  ! 

"  This  is  not  all.     Madam,  do  me  the  favor," 
Said  he,  "  to  cast  your  eye  upon  this  note  ; 

It  came  directly  from  your  money-shaver, 
Who  seems  to  study  your  affairs  by  rote. 

He  says  your  credit  has  been  overdrawn, 

And  he  must  have  your  jewelry  in  pawn." 


THE      PRO 


A  ship  thrown  on  it  beam-ends  by  typhoon  ; 
A  sudden  darkness  spread  across  the  moon  ; 
A  hail-storm  in  mid-summer  ;  the  infecting 

Breath  of  contagion,  poisoning  the  air, 
When  happy  homes  and   hearts  are  least  sus 
pecting 

Such  visitation — may  produce  despair  ; 
But  not  that  paralyzing  sense  of  horror 
Which  struck  the  widow  speechless  in  her  sorrow. 
Her  bark  was  foundered.  Life's  phantasmagoria, 
Once  luminous  with  dancing  figures,  bore  a 
Forbidding  aspect.     That  stately  pride  of  hers 
Was  humbled  amid  her  servile  worshippers. 

Elvira  must  not  know  the  full  extent 

Of  this  calamity.     What  tale  would  she  invent 

To  perpetrate  a  subterfuge,  and  close 

The  drama  in  dramatic  style  ?     She  chose 

The  following  :     Mr.  Bodu  believed 

Elvira  an  heiress.     He  was  no  more  deceived 


THE      P  R  O  T  E  G  K  . 

In  that,  than  she  in  him.     His  treachery 
Was  half  conceived  in  love,  and  all  in  lechery. 
That  gentleman — a  pink  of  the  beau  monde, 
The  widow  addressed  by  missive,   "  to  respond 
At  once,  without  excuses  ;  something  serious 
Suggested  to  her  language  thus  imperious!" 
Bodu  obeyed — obeying  was  his  forte 
When  paper  missives  "summoned  him  to  court." 

"  Sir,"  said  the  lady,  (they  are  snugly  closeted,) 
"  Our  friendship  has  been  mutual ;  but  built 
Upon  a  sandy  basis,  if  deposited 

To  screen  a  fault,  or  palliate  a  guilt. 
We  have  had  secrets,  too  ;  and  may  have,  yet  ; 
If  your  devotion,  like  a  parapet, 
Is  capable  of  shielding  what  it  loves — 
If  feeling  blended  with  affection,  moves 
Your  noble  heart,  as  generous  as  'tis  large, 
To  throw  its  segis  round  a  double  charge. 
Briefly,  Bodu — as  time  will  not  delay, 
You  must  espouse  Elvira,  and  to  day  ! 


THE     PROTEGE.  67 

i  am  a  bankrupt !     Read  the  Sheriff's  warning 
To  quit  these  premises  to-morrow  morning!" 

"Power  is  godlike  !"     (Richelieu's  apothegm.) 
Possessed  by  mitred  priest  or  Roderick  Dhu ; 

It  is  the  monarch's  peerless  diadem, 

Prerogative — command  ;  the  sword  which  slew 

Dentatus,  with  his  back  against  the  rock, 

When  fifty  foes  assailed  him  with  its  shock. 

It  is  the  mere  inditing  of  a  word, 

To  bind  the  captive,  or  unloose  the  herd ; 

The  despot's  safeguard,  and  the  tyrant's  knell; 

Begotten  in  heaven,  but  usurped  in  hell! 

A  smile,  contemptuous,  pitiless,  sardonic, 
Gleamed  like  a  shadow  over  Bodu's  face, 

While  his  reply,  implacably  laconic, 
Revealed  a  heart  unutterably  base. 

"  Madam!"  (the  prologue  had  an  ominous  sound, 

Which  struck  the  shaft  still  deeper  in  its  wound,) 


68  T  H  E      P  R  O  T  E  G  E  . 

"Madam,'    said  he,    "the  day    is    past   when 

duty 

Exerts  itself  to  meet  the  claims  of  beauty ; 
I  fear  your  plans  have  very  much  miscarried ; 
It  cannot  be — /  am  already  married  ! 
This  is  my  secret.     See  that  it  is  kept !" 
He  sought  the  door,  and  o'er  its  threshold  leapt  : 
The  widow  groaned  despairingly,  and  wept. 

Our  days,  like  tide-rifts,  on  a  troubled  stream 

Have  different  currents,  whose  collisions  mark 
A  darkened  line,  with  effervescing  sheen, 

Threatening  destruction  to  a  heedless  bark. 
But  even  in  the  depths  of  those  dark  tides 
A  fascination  irresistible  abides. 
The  fearless  diver,  to  their  caves  descending, 
Heeds  not  the  peril  with  his  passion  blending, 
Which  caution's  finger  often  designates, 
But  cannot  avert  ;  "  The  coward  hesitates," 
Ts  the  belief  of  some  men,  but  an  error ; 
Caution  alone  controls  and  masters  terror. 


THE      PROTEGE.  69 

This  was  the  fatal  theory  on  which 

Misguided  Lucy  Harrison,  once  rich 

To  the  excess  of  magnificence,  stumbled, 

And  from  the  loftiest  height  of  fashion  tumbled. 

Whether  we  will  or  riot,  Time  flies  apace, 
Defying  human  effort  to  o'ertake  him  ; 
Ambition's  utmost  reach  lags  in  the  race 

To  circumvent,  or  catch,  or  hold,  or  make  him 
Correct  anachronisms  in  his  diary  : 
He  is  too  fleet  a  courser,  and  too  fiery. 
We  can  but  follow  his  eventful  track, 
And  note  the  days  and  hours  by  looking  back. 

So,  let  us  indulge  a  retrospect.     Twelve  years 
Have  intervened  since  that  lugubrious  day 

Which  left  the  widow  Harrison  in  tears. 

It  is  the  season  of  Spring — the  first  of  May; 

When  forests  and  fields  assume  their  garniture, 

When  hopes  are  brightest,  and    the    wind    with 
pure 


70  THE      PROTEGE. 

And  fragrant  breath,  stirs  gently  in  the  leaves, 
And  noisy  swallows  twitter  on  the  eves  ; 
The  scene  lies  in  a  village.     There's  a  rout 
Among  the  children — school  has  just  let  out  ; 
And  they  are  curbed  from  childish  glee  and  prank 
To  join  a  marching  column — two  in  rank, 
For  pic-nic  purposes.     The  noted  feature 
Of  this  occurrence,  i?  a  female  teacher; 
A  spinster  lady,  proud  and  grave  in  action, 
Who  does  not  feel  that  perfect  satisfaction 
Which  such  a  spectacle,  at  such  a  time 
A  certain  class  of  people  think  sublime. 
Emotions  very  foreign  to  equanimity 
Are  felt  by  minds  awakened  to  sublimity. 
She  took  by  the  hand,  and  led,  a  blooming  lad, 

Another's  offspring,  but  a  favorite  child ; 
Her  countenance  was  inexpressibly  sad, 

When  she  looked  down  upon  him — loosing  its 

mild 

And  placid  expression — a  kind  of  despair 
Or  melancholy  seemed  to  settle  there. 


THE       PROTEGE.  71 

Doubtless  her  heart  contained  some  recollection 
Sacred  and  secret  from  the  world's  inspection. 
She  kissed  the  boy,  a  double  kiss,  and  said — 
"Justinian,  go  and  mingle  in  the  sports  ;" 
Not  feeling  just  as  she  felt,  he  obeyed. 
And  here  our  closing  history  reports 
What  might  be  very  easily  comprehended 
Without  the  writing — long  ago  had  ended 
Elvira's  dream  of  love,  and  her  career 
Of  fashion's  folly  ;  acted  in  a  sphere 
Above  her  means  and  village  education  ; 
And  yet,  beneath  that  dignity  of  station 
Which  gentlemen  and  ladies  thorough-bred 
Wear  as  a  vestal  virtue,  to  be  shed 
Like    sunlight,   or    perfume,    broadcast    around 

them, 
Seeking  to  cheer  the  lowly—  not  to  wound  them. 


THE      PROTEGE. 

There  is  a  level  for  all  men  and  things, 
Which  liquids  very  aptly  illustrate  ; 

And  whether  below,  or  soaring  high  on  wings, 
We  seek  to  avoid  the  inevitable  fate ; 

The  sequel  has  an  arbitrary  spot, 

Where  it  indites  a  eulogy  or  blot ! 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWEu 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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